Latinos Post - February 26, 2014, by Jorge Calvillo - The Hispanic and immigrant population employed in the construction industry in the state of New York is the ethnic group most vulnerable to fatal accidents in the workplace, according to a report by the Center for Popular Democracy.

According to El Diario NY, the data collected by the study shows that between 2003 and 2011, within the total amount of deaths by falls and accidents in construction areas registered in New York City, 60 percent of the deceased were Hispanic and/or immigrants.

This is an alarming figure because 75 construction workers die due to accidents per year in the state of New York, revealed journalist Blanca Rosa Vílchez, for news network Univisión.

The source points out that in New York, 41 percent of construction workers are Hispanic. However, the report released on Thursday showed that 74 percent of the deaths by accidents belong to that same ethnic group.

Last September 24, construction workers in Brooklyn protested to demand better safety conditions in their workplaces, after they reported a significant rise in accidents related to the low investment in safety that companies offer, which has caused severe accidents which in many cases have taken the lives of workers, who receive a minimum salary.

Back then, El Diario NY reported that the workers protested at 227 Carlton Avenue in Fort Greene, where a 62-year-old worker lost his life when the roof of one of the buildings he was working on collapsed onto him on September 10.

According to the protestors, contractor companies in New York buy low-quality materials to save some money and don't invest in safety courses for their workers, which leaves construction workers in a perilous situation.

The Latino community working in the construction industry is double vulnerable in this situation, since many of the workers are undocumented immigrants, and if they suffer an accident, they don't report the construction company for fear of being deported or fired.

As if this were not enough, if violations of safety norms are reported, the fines against construction companies are very low, which makes it easy for them to continue ignoring safety norms in construction sites.

Univisión highlights that the fines construction companies face are no higher than $2,000 in case of an accident, and $12,000 if a worker dies, a figure that reflects the dimensions of the risks that construction workers must face every day.

Source